Health and Happiness-Sex and the Older Adult

In 2006, Baltimore County Department of Aging (BCDA) unveiled a health promotion initiative to tackle a little-addressed area in the active aging industry: sex education. What prompted the campaign, entitled Health and Happiness–Sex and the Older Adult? According to Arnold Eppel, BCDA’s director, the initiative was the department’s “response to the National Institute on Aging’s report citing the growth in HIV/AIDS cases among adults ages 50 and older.” Eppel, known for his vision and cutting-edge ideas, saw an unfulfilled need. “As life expectancy increases and life circumstances change, single older adults are re-entering the dating world without being properly educated about the risk factors and prevention of HIV,” he explains. To find out more, the Journal on Active Aging® asked Eppel to describe the Maryland county’s initiative for readers.